(The Canadian Press circulated the following story on October 14.)
VULCAN, Alberta — Cleanup of a train derailment in southern Alberta continued yesterday while Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. officials tried to determine what caused 18 cars to jump off a straight section of track.
The tangle of tank cars loaded with toxic anhydrous ammonia and diesel fuel was expected to be unloaded by day’s end and removed from the damaged section of track about 10 km south of Vulcan, near the small town of Kirkcaldy. None of the compressed anhydrous ammonia escaped, but a small amount of diesel fuel was spilled.
The cause of the potentially disastrous derailment is still under investigation. There are no switches along the stretch of straight, single track where the incident occurred. No one was injured and no one was evacuated from nearby communities.
The damaged 240-metre section of track is expected to be repaired and reopened later this week.